The Butterfly Effect

Sep 15, 2015

Warning:

This post contains spoilers for Until Dawn (Playstation)

“A tiny butterfly flapping its wings today may lead to a devastating hurricane weeks from now.”

When you look at your life, you begin to see a series of moments in your past that have taken you to the point you’re at today. But what if one of those moments hadn’t occurred? What if you’d made a different choice?

Would you have ended up in the same place?

It’s hard to say, but interesting to speculate. I know that there are distinct moments in my past that – together – set me on the path to where I am today.

What if I’d stayed at Ohio State? What if I hadn’t gone on that trip? What if I’d never known __?

The concept of choice is the core game mechanic in Supermassive’s Until Dawn on Playstation 4. You play through a teen horror movie, making choices as you go where every choice you make helps determine if one of eight characters does or doesn’t survive until dawn. Every probable outcome is potentially possible – every character can die, every character survive and any combination in between.

When I played, only two ended up surviving. One of which I tried my best to kill off because – frankly – she is just a b*&$h. It’s this so-called “butterfly effect” mechanic where the game definitely excels (and it doesn’t hurt that characters are a bit self-aware of it as well).

Once an important choice is made, the game alerts you that a butterfly effect has occurred and in the menu you can see the through-line of these choices. One choice leads to a different outcome later in the game or modifies your relationship with a different character.

All of these different points make up your story, a story unique to you because it’s defined by your choices, much as it is in real life.

When you look back at your life, what are the moments that standout as turning points? What moments had a butterfly effect that helped take you to where you are today? If you changed one of them, how might your life be better or worse?

Ultimately, I know it does’t matter. The past is the past, and we can&rsquot change it, but it’s still fun to speculate, so let me know your answers in the comments below.